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Vegetated roofs can boost a building's energy efficiency and extend the life of the roof, according to Paul Witt, a builder in Comox Valley in British Columbia, Canada. He installed the living roof at the Vancouver Island Visitor Centre, which has a slight slope. Living roofs also add beauty to the building, improve soundproofing and can be easy to repair, Witt added.

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Light-colored roofs and pavement can help reduce the effect of global warming by lowering summer heat in urban areas, according to researchers in Canada. The cooling effect from reflective roofs and roads could lower carbon dioxide emissions between 28 billion and 165 billion tons over five decades, according to a study published in the Environmental Research Letters journal.

The Board of Trustees in Garden City, N.Y., has agreed to designate $75,000 toward a roof-repair project at the Garden City Public Library. The roof's warranty had expired, but if the city fixes the seams and penetrations at its own cost, the roofing company can extend the warranty another five years. It's not clear whether leaks are coming from the seams or cracked masonry.

Security officers at a Canadian airport failed to detect a four-inch serrated knife that a traveler left in his carry-on bag by mistake. The traveler's wife called the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to inform officials that screeners at Comox Valley Airport in British Columbia missed the knife. An agency spokeswoman said CATSA is investigating the incident.

This year's construction season is off to a slow start across Canada, with builders backing away from construction intentions in January. Figures from Statistics Canada show builders took out $4.5 billion in permits in January, down 11% from December. However, commercial permits increased 3.8% to $973 million.